San Antonio man to helm Oscars!

For the first time, Don Mischer, who grew up in San Antonio and graduated from MacArthur High, will help put together the biggest awards show on TV: The 83rd Academy Awards telecast to air Feb. 27 on ABC.

Mischer has been at the helm of many an awesome TV event. He has produced lots of Emmy Awards telecasts, several Super Bowls, the Opening Ceremonies for the summer and winter Olympics, President Obama’s Inaugural Celebration, Kennedy Center Honors and Tony Awards. He has earned 15 Emmys for his work.

Until now, though, he has never produced the Oscars. And he’s immensely excited about it.

“As a producer and director, I have always been inspired by the live broadcast of major, high-profile events, and when it comes to that, it doesn’t get any bigger than the Academy Awards,” he said in an ABC press release. “The Oscars are truly ‘appointment’ television; they’re eagerly anticipated around the world, and they offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary artists who take us on a journey every time we step into a movie theater.”

Mischer will be co-producing the telecast, live from the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, with a man from the big screen: Bruce Cohen, an Academy Award winning producer for “American Beauty,” who also produced “Milk” and “Big Fish.”

In 2007, he also collaborated with Mischer on the Emmy-nominated TV special, “Movies Rock.”

“It is a dream come true for me to now be producing the show with the phenomenal Don Mischer, whom I’ve had an incredible time working with in the past,” Cohen said in the same release. “We hope to create a show that celebrates what people around the world love about the Academy Awards year after year – the excitement, glamour and tradition of Oscar Night itself.”